


our daze.

by arurun



Series: once again daze. [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!, Kagerou Project, Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Alternate Universe - Siblings, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Post-Summertime Record, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Older Brothers, Reincarnation, Siblings, Sick Character, because ayano and shintaro, because takane and haruka, reincarnated as siblings of the main cast
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2020-09-06 19:50:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20297017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arurun/pseuds/arurun
Summary: "never forget, but keep moving ahead."Shintaro wakes up, and nothing is the same. He has a youngerbrothernow, and it's not Momo. One by one, they wake up in this new universe-- and they cope. They try as hard as they can-- and they live.





	1. shintaro.

**Author's Note:**

> welcome to this story! (idk how to write author notes I'm sorry asldjaklsdjlakjda) so this is three-way crossover featuring Kagerou Project, Haikyuu, and Kuroko no Basuke. 
> 
> After Summertime Record, the Mekakushi Dan find themselves in a new world, with new identities, and older brothers with some kind of monkey obsession with ball sports. Despite their situation, they still believe they can meet again.

** _"You won't forget again will you?"_ **

** _"Don't worry, I couldn't forget this if I tried."_ **

** _"I wonder about that. I bet you'll have completely forgotten by tomorrow."_ **

** _"And is that so bad? I mean, if there are better days to come..."_ **

** _"But we'll meet again somewhere, won't we?"_ **

** _"Of course we will. Well, I'd better be going now."_ **

** _"Right. I'll see you later."_ **

Not for the first time at all, Shintaro wakes up and memories flood into his very being, crawling through his pores like invading mites, eating him out from within, dragging out a broken sob from his chest. 

And then the tears spill, and he can’t brush them aside.

There’s a burning in his chest, like something’s dying in there, like a knife is just gouging through his flesh (again and again and again and) somehow the red of his blanket is nauseating. The red of the T-shirt he wears is repulsive.

He slips his fingers under the sleeve of his wrist and tries not to break down further when the scars of cutting aren’t there.

His head is in disarray-- but he remembers despair. He remembers his sister’s cries. He remembers watching them get cut down one after another and then it repeats again and again and he _ remembers _, eyes glowing red and sending him into flashes of visions that makes him wish he were blind.

He finds himself in the mirror, and he sees himself-- his black hair, his startlingly red eyes, his teary cheeks and his utterly vulnerable, so completely _ weak _ self.

It’s impulsive and desperate, but he takes a painfully easy step forward, and with a howl that’s almost inhuman he throws his fist into the glass, shattering it to bits.

The pain that burns through his hand comforts him.

He stays there, breath raspy against the cold morning, eyes light against the dim room, his blood is red against the blue of night.

A sear flares through his head, and he cries out, feeling the rest of the memories flow into him, like a belated system update to this shitty reset system.

The next second he’s getting pulled away from the mirror, and he realizes someone’s screaming his name. Another barks orders, and he’s pushed impossibly gently into his bed as a red-haired face sets down beside him, faded red eyes narrowed so fearfully as he crouched down.

It’s not Momo.

That’s when everything else comes back to him.

-

His name is Akashi Shintaro. 

His father, the head of the Akashi Corporation, is among the richer families in Japan, holding up the realm of business as one of its vital pillars. The world held high expectations for the twins of the household, who were hailed as geniuses in their own right.

Tragically, just earlier this year, the wife of the household passed from an illness.

And since then, the burden of his father’s expectations was weighed heavily on his only sons-- the twins, Shintaro and Seijuurou.

The older of the two was the first to crack. Shattering under pressure and crumbling under talent, Shintaro had shut himself inside his room and spent the remainder of his elementary education locked away inside his room, refusing contact with the outside world.

“It’s the same,” Shintarou realized, “but… Momo isn’t here.”

Something in that last loop changed everything. Reset everything in a way that will never end in such a tragedy again-- but the price was that he’d lose his little sister?

Now he had a younger brother. A twin brother. It isn’t the same.

He missed them. Missed the Mekakushi Dan. Missed their ridiculous antics and Ene’s incessant teasing and Kido’s helpless timidity and Kano’s unreadable deception and Seto’s understanding gazes and Marry’s childish needs and Hibiya’s obnoxious attitude and Konoha’s indifferent presence and-- and Momo’s annoyed, irritating, yet so adorable little call for _ Onii-chan _.

They’re not here anymore, and he mourned.

-

“You are talking to me, whether you like it or not.”

Seijuurou sits him down, and a stern glint in his eyes is almost uncharacteristic of him. But Shintaro knows that he’s simply concerned. Even Seijuurou has enough human in his left to feel empathy for his suffering older twin.

Shintaro’s eyes are black again, but Seijuurou’s eyes remain that faded red that, although it’s beautiful, is nothing compared to the red Shintaro reminisces on.

“I don’t want to talk,” Shintaro murmurs back, and something in him is gathering up again. 

It’s the same numbness he always feels, after each loop he regains his memories-- it’s the same feeling of his soul trying to hold itself together, taping back his pieces and creating a farce of humanity that although isn’t as strong as Kano’s masks, it works. It reminds him that _ this time will be okay _, and creates in him a resolve that he pretends to still believes in.

This time, he lets himself believe that resolve, because he has a reason to.

“But I want to listen,” he says, and the smile on his face is a little jagged. “Tell me about you, Seijuurou.”

And when the red-haired boy, his _ brother _, sits beside him and starts talking, Shintaro closes his eyes and listens. The pain in his hands fade, the ache in his heart swells and mellows out.

He lets himself be absorbed into a new family, a new _ love _.

And then the determination brims through him, in a new form.

It’s no longer _ save them. Save them. Remember it happened and never forget it happened. Forever and ever, never, ever forget, _because people die when they are forgotten and Shintaro knows that better than anyone.

Now it’s _ we’ll meet again _.

Now his conviction is for hope, not clinging to despair. It’s for that whispered little promise between the eight of them. And that-- that is something he’s willing to retain in his eyes.


	2. kousuke.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seto's brother has monkey friends and somehow, that's nostalgic. His neighbours are so nice, way too nice, he could cry. The animals here are okay, except hamsters. Hamsters are assholes.

The first time Kousuke meets his older brother’s friends, he’s caught between their chaotic dynamic. 

Boisterous and rash Tanaka, with calm and strict Ennoshita. Then there’s his brother Yuu, who although stands at least a head shorter than them both, is evidently the mastermind of their relationship in the first place.

Kousuke stands at the doorway, not too sure what to do about the tray of tea except watch them wrestle across the room, destroying everything in their path.

Somehow, it’s nostalgic. It reminds him of times Kido would throw Kano across the room, and Marry, panicking to help them out, would trip over something (or nothing) and cause an even bigger mess. Someone would fall prey to her clumsiness (usually one of the Kisaragi siblings) and then they’d spend the rest of the day trying to fix whatever was broken.

“You’re Nishinoya’s younger brother?” Ennoshita realizes he’s standing there, and addresses him.

On cue, Nishinoya pipes up, neck still bound in a half-stranglehold by Tanaka, “oh, Kousuke! Welcome home, thanks for the tea!”

“I’m home, Nii-chan,” Kousuke takes that as his cue to sit down, arranging the tea cups in careful spots on the desk. “I’ll leave them on the table, okay? Try to destroy everything except these.”

“We’ll try!”

Kousuke sits down introduces himself to Ennoshita, who actually gapes in disbelief. Because  _ no way, how could Noya have such a precious and polite younger brother. Are you adopted? _

When they bicker with each other, it’s as if he was watching the Kisaragi siblings again.

The thought fills him with a melancholic reverence, so he closes his eyes and smiles when they praise his quiet demeanor. It’s a high contrast to his boisterous older brother, but he was the only one that knew why.

Compared to Yuu, Kousuke was timid, shy, and not exactly sociable.

Upon exiting the room, he tucks his earphones in, and the music fills his head, drowning out the noise of the masses before his mind loses its hold again. His eyes gleam red for half a moment, then he suppresses it, controls it-- and returns to his room.

He curls up, and undeniably, he misses all of them.

-

In this new world and attending new schools, Kousuke feels out of place. He’s not getting bullied anymore, and everyone is kind-- but his memories are a jagged thorn by his heart, and never allows him to become complacent.

Something burdens him, telling him that he  _ can’t forget these _ . He’s not like Shintaro,  _ who can remember all this to the very detai _ l-- one day, these memories will fade from him, and that scares him. 

The little birds by the window tell him it’s a beautiful day.

The little hamster by the road calls him a monster.

And the dog that lives by the convenience store tells him that he’ll find his place one day.

“Yeah, I think so too,” he whispers back, crouched down to meet its eyes. He rubs the dog behind its ears, nuzzling tenderly against its soft, soft fur-- before standing up. 

Awkwardly, he meets the shopowner in the eyes. He hadn’t noticed the man there.

“Uhm,” he stumbles over his words, “good morning, Ukai-san.”

And the man, just ready to open up shop, greets back, “good morning, need something inside?” 

He hefts the signboard out of the door and to the side of the entrance, before brushing invisible dust off his hands and turning back to the boy, jabbing a thumb at the store questioningly.

Kousuke is frantically shaking his head before he knows it, “no! Uh, I mean, I was just passing by,” he tries his hardest to compose himself, “sorry to bother. I have to get to school.”

Raising an eyebrow, Ukai doubles back to offer the boy a meat bun, fresh from the stove. Kousuke doesn’t manage to refuse it before he’s holding it with gratitude in his eyes.

The people here, in the countryside, were really  _ much, much _ kinder than in the city back then. Realizing it again, Kousuke revels in the silence of the world, and smiles against the winds.

Nothing will hurt him, and the people’s thoughts here are clean and gentle. There aren’t many around, so even if his eyes accidentally activate, the noise doesn’t hurt his ears and give him migraines. It’s bearable, like cacophony.

He thinks he likes it here. He thinks he likes it very much.


	3. takane.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ene is back to being a grouchy gamer that can never get enough sleep. Except now, instead of a soothing air head, she has a rambunctious. muscle-brained younger brother, and cotton candy-with-boobs as a childhood friend. At the very least, life is never quiet now.

“Hey, Takane, wake up!”

Takane jerks her head off the desk-- no, there wasn’t a desk. She was sitting down, legs crossed over each other, and a lunchbox in her hand was held firm by another, much tanner hand.

“Haven’t you been taking your pills? I can’t believe you almost fell asleep _ eating _,” Daiki retrieves the lunchbox from her hand and puts it aside for safekeeping. 

Takane blinks. Then, she groans, pinching the bridge of her nose and mumbling something incoherent. Her head spins and swirls, so she squeezes her eyes shut and tries to ride it out with gentle breaths. It doesn’t help, and she’s seeing colours.

“Are you listening to me, Takane?” Daiki was speaking again, his grating voice loud and inconsiderate.

“Shut up for a sec, will you!” Takane sends a punch shooting straight at him. It collides with his forehead and sends the much larger boy doubling back in pain.

There are tears in his eyes when he looks back, offended, “I was just _ worried!” _ he complains, and Takane huffs stubbornly, not apologizing. 

She sighs, trying to down her cranky, just-woke-up mood.

“Dai-chan, I found Ene-chan’s medicine!” and there comes Satsuki, sliding the door of the rooftop open before dancing in with all her booby glory.

Takane doesn’t hate her, but her body structure is absolutely _ criminal _ for her age. What the heck with those milk jugs, seriously. She and Momo both! _ Oh crap, their names are similar. _

“Oh, Satsuki, sorry to trouble ya,” Daiki calls out to her, “c’mon, Takane, eat your medicine or you’re not gonna last the rest of lunch.”

Takane clicks her tongue, a snarl biting through her lips, “I’m supposed to be the elder one here,” she insists, a hiss through her throat.

“Yeah, yeah, just eat your dumb pills already.”

-

“So, did you pass your basketball tryouts?” Takane asks, looking at her brother who was wolfing down that monster of a sandwich, “also, you’re eating too much.”

“Hm? Yeah, got into first string,” Daiki downs a mouthful of milk, “and no, you just eat too little.”

At that, Takane juts out her arm and lands a mad karate chop over his head. He splutters, shrieks, and spits out his milk. He looks terrified.

“Satsuki-chan, you’re going to join too?” Takane sits down like nothing happened, continuing her lunch with a nice tamagoyaki, “you know you can break free from this little idiot, right?”

Satsuki keeps a concerned eye on the boy, but smiles at the older girl anyways. “It’s fine, I think I’ll like it there,” she assures her, holding out a box of tissues for the boy, “the other managers are really nice, and I think I like managing.”

Takane hums, mildly uninterested.

“I know, Ene-chan, you aren’t in any clubs, so why don’t you join the club too?” Satsuki suggests cheerfully, “the captain of the club is your classmate, isn’t he?”

“Of course I can’t, you know I’m not fit for clubs,” Takane raises an eyebrow, shaking the pill canister if Satsuki’s direction for good measure, “and you mean Nijimura-kun? No way in hell, he’s enough of a bumbling busybody already.”

“That’s because Dai-chan barged into your classroom last year and demanding him to take care of you, right?” Satsuki beams, and Takane chokes on a ham. Daiki spits out his drink again.

“Stop reminding me, god,” Takane buries her face in her hands, “my elementary school skipping younger brother just barges into class and declares war against the class monitor. That was embarrassing.”

Daiki slams his hand on the ground, “you _ fell off a flight of stairs _because you fell asleep midway and then walked yourself to the infirmary! You think I’m gonna let that lie quiet??”

“You didn’t have to challenge him to basketball and _ then _ crush him in a game!” Takane threw her hands into the air, exasperated, “if he fell a string you’d have been responsible, you gorilla brained ganguro!”

“What did you just call me, you twintailed gaming otaku??”

“My twintails have nothing to do with this!”

“Otaku!”

“Gorilla!”

-

Ultimately, Satsuki’s unrelenting bouts of laughter manages to stop their dumb bickering.

Daiki wolfs down the rest of his lunch, plus Takane’s leftovers, before he cleans everything up in a second and stands up, ready to walk his sister back to her classroom.

Takane simply sighs, and all through the way, she insists she doesn’t need an escort. Satsuki follows them with a smile on her face, because she knows they fight out of love.

Takane stares at her pills for a moment before she tucks it into her pocket. Seriously, time’s turned back and things are better now, but why’d this illness have to come back with her too?

She’s glad that there wasn’t a need to shift her into a special needs class (like last time, with Haruka,) but the issues that’s brought about are of the same nature. She falls behind in class, can never get enough sleep, and is in danger of basically every sharp edge in this building. What is she, a toddler?

Stuck with a gorilla of a younger brother and a milk jug pink bombshell thing as her only female friend, Takane thinks that this is still much better than before. 

Last time, she’d lost all her friends eventually and soon was only left with Haruka. They got angry because she fell asleep during conversations. Okay maybe that seemed rude to them, but it wasn’t on purpose! Haruka was much more understanding about it.

But this time, she has an overprotective younger brother and a friend that’ll always stick by her.

She hopes she’ll meet everyone in the Mekakushi Dan again, this time in her real form, not as an astral cybernetic projection--- but for now, she couldn’t ask for anything more, really.

-

“Thanks,” Takane mumbles, and Daiki whirls back in a double take.

“Did you say something?”

Takane flushes, “hurry up and _ get back to your damn class _ already!” she all but screams, kicking him in the back of his knees, “and don’t you _ dare _ be waiting for me at the school gates after school, got it?” 

“Huh? You’re planning on walking home _ alone?” _ Daiki sounds infinitely appalled.

“You’re overbearing, get off! I can at least walk home on my own!”

“No you can’t!”

“Yes I can!”

“No you absolutely _ can’t!!” _

“I _ said _ I _ can _, are ya even hearing me??”


	4. tsubomi.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kido has an older brother, but he's nothing like her past elder sister. She's not any less timid than her past life, but his friends try their best to protect her and maybe that's nice too. She's not the one protecting this time.

“Tsubomi!” Her older brother runs through the house, his hollers getting louder and angrier with each call, “hey, Tsubomi! Stop hiding already!”

“I’m not hiding,” she says, right beside the boy. And he shrieks bloody murder, surprised by her sudden emergence, apparently from nowhere.

Her faintly green hair is long, tucked into the hood of her purple hoodie. Her hoodie, which she somehow wears as her sleepwear, casual wear, and outdoor wear simultaneously.

“Holy crap, stop doing that!” his brother snaps back reflexively, “how long have you been--”

“I’ve been here the whole time.”

“No way!” He splutters, flustered, but composes himself with an almighty harumph as he marches right out. “A-Anyways!” he says, “I’m leaving for morning practice! Breakfast is in the fridge, bye!”

“See you, Tobio,” Tsubomi says in return, though she isn’t sure if he’s heard it.

Tsubomi watches him leave the house, his white and blue jersey jacket fluttering calmly in the wind with him. The words Kitagawa Daiichi emblazoned across the back, Tsubomi wonders how it would feel to wear a school uniform like that one.

She’s never had the opportunity, even back then, with Ayano.

But now she’s Kageyama Tsubomi, and surely, this was the chance to finally get formal education into her system. Maybe if she gets somewhere good, she’ll be able to meet all of them again, as promised.

But for now, she’ll wait.

-

Kido Tsubomi was always a shy girl, and reincarnating didn’t really change that at all. She’s a little better now, because people around her were nice.

She took a while getting used to ‘Kageyama Tsubomi’, but it was fine. She kind of missed being called by her last name--  _ it was like a code name, so said Kano so long ago _ \-- and Ayano (and her parents) were the only ones that referred to her as ‘Tsubomi’. 

Her brother is not like her sister Rin. Nor was he like Kano, or Seto, or even Ayano. He wasn’t really like anyone, really. He was strong, brave, confident, and above everything, passionate.

His grades were horrendous and he was bashfully defiant to admit it, but his volleyball prowess was something that left even Tsubomi in awe. 

Tsubomi went to every one of his matches, and from the cheering stands, she would smile shyly at him when he grins, tooth and joy, in her direction.

Then she shrinks when eyes are cast upon her.

Her hoodie is purple, in a different design from her old one, but it was the first thing she claimed from her brother’s closet. It was warm and comfortable and reminded her of home, old home. She knows she’s being too clingy to the past, but the blueberry scent mixed with boy’s cologne calms her too.

-

“Hey, Tsubomi!” 

Tsubomi squeaks. She had been quietly purchasing a can of red bean soup from the vending machine when that voice shoots into her ears.

She swirls around, shrinking closer to the vending machine on instinct.

“To- Tobio?” she’s surprised to find him there. It was still daylight, and her brother was always at practice until the sun went down.

And it wasn’t just the black-haired brother. Behind him was a taller (two taller) boys, wearing the same volleyball jersey but exuding the aura of… older people.

Tsubomi takes a step back, and leans her shoulder into the metal of the machine.

“Wh- what’s,” Tsubomi looks away sharply when one of the seniors turn to her, “what’s-- what’s? uh-- I mean why, why are you... Early? today.”

Her sentence always never seems to make sense when she’s nervous, but she couldn’t manage anything better.

“Club practice is cancelled today because of a leak,” Tobio doesn’t sound entirely amused. “They didn’t want me to practice anyways because of my leg, so I have a prison guard escorting me home.”

He jabs an offending thumb at the brown-haired one that can’t seem to stop smiling. 

“And this is Iwaizumi-senpai,” he points at the black-haired one, before turning to him and introducing them, “Iwaizumi-senpai, this is my younger sister, Tsubomi.”

“Nice to meet you,” he says, and although there’s a scary furrow in his brows, he keeps a neutral, harmless look on his face. 

“N-n-n---!!” Tsubomi, suddenly being directly addressed, panicked, “nice to, nice to meet you too???”

“Why is that a question?” Iwaizumi can’t believe how timid she was. Tsubomi wanted to hide behind the vending machine. Can she disappear? Please?

“Sometimes I wonder why I haven’t stabbed you already, Tobio,” the brown-haired one mutters spitefully at the blatant favouritism. “Nice to meet you, Tsubomi-chan, I’m Oikawa Tooru.”

Oikawa steps forward to greet her, but the cheesy smile and sparkly aura only made Tsubomi’s head go blank. She’s never been talked to so forwardly before. She manages a nod in response, tugging her hood up as she maneuvers around them to her brother, and hides behind him.

“She’s really timid, so could you not scare her please,” Tobio grumbles at the senior annoyedly.

“That’s right, Shittykawa, don’t scare girls,” Iwaizumi tacks on absent-mindedly, “can’t you see you freaked her out?”

“It’s my fault??”

Tsubomi sticks to her brother’s back, as she always did because she knew she shouldn’t use her powers to fade out anymore. It wasn’t as if she couldn’t-- she just  _ shouldn’t _ .

She remembers sticking around Kano all the time. Timidly asking him to handle every conversation she didn’t want to, and roping him into events she was interested in, because he cared for her and he understood just how hard it was for her to open up.

She breathes in the nostalgia, and smiles.

This is fun.


	5. marry.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marry is very, very scared of her new brother. But really, nothing's scarier than someone who can order him around. Marry kinda misses Seto because at least _he_ was nice.

“Where are you going, Marry?”

Marry flinches, squeaking a little too sharply for her age. She shrinks into the side of the door as she whirls around, taking in the form of her older brother behind her.

Haizaki Shougo scowls like the girl had taken the last cookie in the jar. Arms tucked into his pockets, face set in a firm frown, the older boy considers the younger girl with a little less than utter contempt.

“I- I, uh, I was, just, I was just, going…” Marry fumbles over and over again, unable to even look her brother in the eye as she speaks, voice going softer with each word, “...out.”

Like a flipped switch, the boy snaps, “at this hour?! Are you daft, Marry?” 

“S- s- I’m, I’m sorry!”

The girl barely avoids biting her own tongue, crouching down and curling into a ball as she covered her head as if she’d be hit. (But Shougo wouldn’t do that. He was scary even without doing that.)

A moment later, Marry hears him sigh, and she looks up warily. Her older brother has a hand on hip, the other pinching the bridge of his nose in the way Kido always did when Kano did something dumb.

It’s a fond sign of exasperation, but Marry still thinks her brother is scary.

“What did you need?”

She thinks she’s hearing things, so she goes ‘huh’ and gapes dumbly.

“I said,” Shougo loses his patience, “tell me what you need and I’ll go get it for you! Hurry up, I’m tired!!”

Marry squawks the most inelegant shriek in the world, “a, a, a, I needed a new geometry set!” she’s seriously tearing up at this point.

“HAH?!” Shougo combusts, “another one? What happened to your old one?”

Marry is a pitiful little shivering heap at this point as she desperately tries to conjure an answer. She can’t think of anything that wouldn’t make him explode even more.

Shougo’s eyebrow raises in an epiphany, “are you getting bullied?”

The way Marry insistently avoids his gaze speaks _ volumes _. This was exactly why Marry didn’t want him to know that she needed a new one but what could she do if her brother was absolutely horrifying Seto save me Seto was nicer I want Seto--

Shougo crouches down, a hand resting on her head as he grunts in his usual disapproving way. 

“You go to bed,” and it’s an order.

Marry blinks, not too sure if she heard right. Usually her brother would be launching into a lecture about _ stop acting so meek and weak that’s why the other girls hate you and you get targeted for god’s sake _ but today, there wasn’t a hint of it on his lips. Did he have a bad day or was he just tired?

He stands up, and steps into his shoes with a grumpy rumble of ‘fuck me the only girl I know is Momoi’ as he marches out the door. 

“Did you not hear me? Go back to your room,” he snarls, and this time he didn’t need to say twice. Marry scrambles right off with an obedient response.

Marry firmly decides that she will _ never _ understand him.

She spots herself in the mirror, and wonders why her new older brother was so different from anyone else she’s ever met. Even Shintaro was nice after a while… not even Kano was that mean sometimes. Marry and her brother had similarly light hair, but everyone could agree they were absolutely _ nothing _alike.

Marry wanted to keep her hair as long as the last time around-- but this time, she didn’t have a mother around to take care of her hair for her. Her new mother is nice, but absent. And it seems like people don’t usually keep their hair at that length anyways. It would get in the way.

So Marry cuts her hair, and keeps it prim and short in a way that reminds her of Momo… or even Kido back when Seto first brought her over. Like a pixie cut, just a splash of boyish that even Shougo can help her brush when he felt nice enough to. (Other times he just squashes a hat on her head.)

It’s a new life, after all. This reminds her of her hair when she transcends into a Medusa, but that’s as far as the resemblance goes. And she thinks she likes it.

-

Haizaki Marry is a first year in Teiko Jr High. Everyone seems to know her brother, an infamous delinquent, so that usually puts people off the bullying her.

(She apparently looks like a perfect target, especially with her killer adorable looks.)

But Haizaki Shougo is a boy, and a delinquent. He isn’t exactly allowed to hit or threaten girls, if only for human decency and common moral values. (And the fact that he has a younger sister may have contributed to his let’s-not-hit-girls theory.)

As a result, Marry was bullied by the other girls in her class and to this day has failed to form a proper friend. Her brother frankly couldn’t give a shit, but he would rather die than have his nights disturbed like that again. 

(And if he let his sister outside alone at the crack of night, in all her _ poofy I’m a vulnerable flower fairy _ vibes, his mother would have his head once she came back from that work trip.)

So for the first time in his life, Haizaki Shougo swallows his pride and talks to Momoi Satsuki.

That girl kinda hates him (can’t blame her) but at the very least, she softens enough when she hears about his sister’s situation. In fact, her enthusiasm is so prominent in her offer to help that Haizaki almost wonders if those juniors would end up scarred for life.

Okay, so maybe it was worth it.

-

Marry meets Nijimura Shuzo the first time when the captain kicks their door down and demands to see Haizaki’s-dumb-ass before he kicks him off the team. Marry had been sitting on the couch, working on her English assignment, when it happened.

Needless to say, she screams.

And Nijimura, in all his glory, screams back.

A door slams open upstairs, and Haizaki charges down the stairs, half-dressed in his rush. He takes a second to look at the scene, then chucks a desk lamp at the basketball captain.

If it were any other situation, Haizaki would be taking about ten thousand pictures of Nijimura prostrating himself before him. 

If it were any other situation, he would also be shoving Marry off from his back. He didn’t like being used as a pillow and she was sniffling on his back. Nasty.

But right now, arms crossed, cold patch stuck on his forehead and headache building in his skull, he only manages a pissed off, “I was just about to call in sick.”

“In my defence, the last ten times you used that excuse, they were lies,” Nijimura sneers back automatically. “You can’t cry wolf so many times and expect me to believe it this time.”

Haizaki gives a longsuffering, infinitely sickly groan, and he officially gives up.

“Whatever,” his voice is softer this time, “you got what you needed. You can go now, right?” Reaching up a hand to massage his temples, he looks at the clock and scowls at the time. 

Nijimura looks rightfully regretful, but he keeps a wary eye on the boy. He almost leaps when Haizaki sways and needs to steady himself on the wall. 

“Shoo,” he says sharply at Marry, who takes a moment to let go. The dizziness only lasts for a second, but he doesn’t think he wants to bother making it up the stairs.

He sends a warning look at Nijimura that hopefully interprets as _ go away _, and he deposits himself on the couch in a boneless heap.

Marry, left exposed to crazy-basketball-captain-guy, freezes.

Then she bows and greets him, “I- I’m, I’m! I am, my, my name is-- Marry,” she barely stumbles out, not too sure how she’s supposed to entertain guests or anything, “uh- uh? Would you-- would uh, would you like some… some tea? Or, or or, uh--” she bites her tongue and crawls to the corner in agony.

Nijimura stares blankly, “uhm, are you okay?”

“Marry, don’t bother, just tell him to get out,” Haizaki hollers sorely from the couch.

“But-- But, but--!!” Marry looks at him, then at Nijimura, then at him again-- oh she wanted to cry now. What was she supposed to do? “Uh! Thank you!” she bows lowly. 

For a moment Nijimura is confused because _ why? _this girl was an absolute mess. 

Marry was literally dizzy at this point, “uh, thank you, for, always… uh, looking after, my brother…?” she thinks that’s what Seto would to other people when she and Kido got roped into something because of Kano. But I mean! This is Shougo’s club Captain! Surely she has to greet him somehow... “Uh--”

Nijimura can’t take it. He bursts out laughing, and Haizaki whirls around to chuck a notebook in his direction (Marry cries, “my English homework!”) to get him to leave.

He promises to come by again later tonight. Something about dinner together, and Marry doesn't have a chance to refuse before he’s gone.


	6. momo.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Momo, in her own way, is trying her best. Her new big brother is a stubborn fool who won't give up. She can't lose to him, can she?

"Onii-chan, you forgot your lunch!"

"Ah, sorry!"

Hinata Shouyo turns back around to find his sister coming at him, glare set on her face, with an extra lunchbox in her hand. He laughs sheepishly at that.

He settles into the bicycle, bag on his shoulders. 

Momo drops his lunch, and hers, into the basket, before sitting down on the backseat and wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Ready?" Shouyo grins.

"Of course!" Momo beams, "full speed ahead!"

-

Hinata Shouyo never thought of himself as big brother material. As a role model, he may possibly be the worst choice someone could ever come up with. 

Yet, fate bestowed him the older brother role to not one, but  _ two _ younger  _ sisters _ .  So not only does he have to be the eldest sibling of the family, he has to be the man of the house. After all, Dad works in the city. 

There couldn't be a more ill-fitting position. 

"Are you okay?"

"I… can… DO… THIS!"

Today again, he struggles through the uphills on his bike. To have to carry the weight of his bag and his sister behind him all the while: that was torture. 

But he has to do this! He's a strong man!

"I can always walk to school myself," Momo insists to him when they finally give up on the attempt.

Shouyo pushes the bicycle along him as they walk up the hill together, out of breath. 

"You can't!" he says a little louder than necessary, "the sun isn't up yet! Obviously it's not safe!"

Being in a mostly female household had its impacts. Shouyo was brought up with the belief that he had to be the guardian when it counts, even if it cost him. 

"You don't have to babysit me," Momo pouted, "a lot of people in Miyagi know the both of us well. So they'll keep a lookout!"

" _ I _ know a lot of people personally," Shouyo argues, " _ you _ know a lot of people, well,  _ not _ personally! Because you're an idol!"

Momo flushes bright red and hisses a sharp  _ SHHH!!! _ in his direction. Looking around frantically, she worries if anyone heard. In luck, it was too early in the morning for any sort of crowd or audience. 

“You know you can’t shout like that!” she whispered loudly, hands held before her as if that would hide her anyhow, “you know how they crowd around me sometimes…”

Shouyo laughs, nose raising proudly, “I can never brag enough about it! I’m the older brother of an  _ idol! _ Just think about that!”

Momo’s face just gets redder from that. This was much different from her past life-- her name wasn’t on the walls or TVs every day.

_ (At least, not her bare face.) _

She finds a poster on the wall-- **Bright gold on deep blue, she was like the moon**. With startling blonde hair and a blue masquerade mask on her face, her gleaming red eyes made her the enigma of this country.

“Kisaragi,” she calls herself, written with the words  _ like the moon _ . No one in the town, save her family, know of her identity. She was an underground idol with a hidden identity. Wasn’t that cool?

(If one day, Shintaro saw this, I hope he would realize that I’m here too.)

(Because no matter what, she will always have a brother called Shintaro, and that won’t change no matter how many times they die and live again.)

She didn’t catch as much attention as before, because she knew how to control her eyes now. She inevitably garnered attention for her looks, but no one suspected a thing. After all-- their hairs were in a slightly different colour, and who would think that  _ Kisaragi _ was from right out in the sticks?

“Anyways, you’ll be late if you don’t hurry. You have volleyball practice with the girl’s team, right?” Momo speaks up, changing the subject sharply.

“Eh- Oh my GOSH!” Shouyo squawks, leaping onto his bike, “Oh, the school’s in view! C’mon, Momo, last spurt!”

Momo looks on fondly, settling herself on the backseat again as they zoomed down the hill, squealing in delight. 

This new big brother was a whole oddball, but Momo thinks she loves him too.


	7. hibiya.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hibiya does not like his new older brother. He's creepy, his hair colour is weird, and he has a very unpleasant hobby of scaring him every few minutes-- AAAAAHHHH!

Hibiya is very, very nervous around his big brother.

Simply put, he’s  _ fucking creepy! _

Like, not the perverted kind of creepy, the haunted house kind of creepy. He’s used the word creepy about three times now but he really can’t find another word to describe him and--

“Hibiya-kun.”

“uw-gYAAAAHH!!!”

-

“Now, now, Hibiya, you’re a big boy now.”

Hibiya clung to his grandmother like she was a lifeline, huddling over her lap and asking to be spoiled like the six-year-old he was.

Tetsuya sat down on his knees before them, reflecting.

He would be allowed to pester his younger brother after about five minutes. 

Their mother smiles at the sight, while their father sighs in defeat. When, oh when will they ever be able to get along…

With a scaredy-cat of a younger brother and a playful older brother with a ghostly consistency… this brings back strangely specific memories.

“It’s so nostalgic,” grandmother chortles, “your mother used to do that to your father all the time, and he’d go cry and hide in a corner somewhere.”

“Don’t tell them that!” his father flusters, “and she was just a madwoman.”

“I still am,’ came the woman’s dull-toned yet cheeky answer.

“It’s not something to be proud of!” 

Life in the Kuroko house was lively, which was strangely unexpected from a boy who’s known for his monotone and blank expressions.

Monotonous yet playful Tetsuya; Serious yet timid Hibiya. 

It reminds Hibiya of many things. Of the times Hiyori would tease him over something dumb, simply because it was fun. Tetsuya’s persistence to play with him reminded him of Momo. Sometimes, his no-good father reminded him of Shintaro, who was both appearance-wise and personality-wise pathetic. His brother’s coolish demeanor that was only on the outside-- it reminded him of Kido.

Ah, he was such a sap.

He missed them all so much. Why did things have to be so different this time around?

(But it’s better than last time around.)

He hopes everyone has a happy, loving family too.

-

“So this is your younger brother? No way, he’s so cute!”

Hibiya shrieks, hiding behind Tetsuya when the older boy crouches down to invade his personal space.

“You have all the cute genes. Totally unlike your big brother.”

“I take offense to that, Ogiwara-kun.”

It’s a day when all the adults decided to go on a short daycation, (“ _ you know, when you get old and have kids that are old enough to take care of themselves, you kinda just do, y’know?” _ ) leaving Tetsuya home alone to babysit Hibiya. 

It did not mean that Tetsuya had to stay home all day, so he decided to go out and play basketball with his friend, and Hibiya was there to watch the show.

“Hi there, Hibiya-kun,” Ogiwara smiled at him kindly, harmlessly, “I’m Ogiwara. Nice to meet you.”

_ (“He’s like Seto-san, he literally exudes with nice big brother energy!”) _

“H-Hi,” he greets nervously, why is there rice on his cheek, “uh, my older brother has been in your care… thank you very much.”

“Oh, he’s so unnecessarily polite, he’s definitely a Kuroko.”

“How on earth do you recognize me, Ogiwara-kun?”

The atmosphere is a lot less awkward with Ogiwara around. He laughs, he brings up conversation, and he says funny things to make sure Hibiya is always included.

He’s a definitive extrovert, and he makes that very clearly known.

When they play basketball, Tetsuya kinda sucks, but for some reason, they have fun. Hibiya watches on, slightly envious.

Even back then, he didn’t really have a male friend. It was always Hiyori, and even then, it was because he clung to her like a servant. Hiyori probably didn’t feel the same about him-- they were childhood friends, she probably felt entitled to keep him around.

_ Hiyori… _

“Hey, Hibiya-kun!” 

Suddenly Ogiwara’s face is half an inch from his, and he shrieks.

“You shouldn’t do that, Ogiwara-kun, last time I did that he punched me.”

“Really?”

Hibiya composes himself. At least, he tries to. What’s with people in this world and liking to scare him so much? He might be six-- seven years old but he’s not a baby!

Curse all you people who are half a dozen years older than me.

“So, Hibiya-kun, wanna play with us?”

He perks up. Ogiwara grins at him, holding a basketball in his hands. The invitation is clear, but he still blurts out a “huh?”

“You haven’t tried before, but it’s fun,” Tetsuya urges him on.

He’s dragged into it reluctantly at first, but eventually, it becomes fun.

-

From the day they parted with a promise to the day Kuroko clambers up to first string, Hibiya has watched him.

He’s nothing but a spectator this time around, and it’s not as dull of a job as it sounds. It’s peaceful, and beyond anything, that’s really the best.

He looks at his hand, and although it’s not really there, he remembers the warmth of Hiyori’s hand-- it’s the remnant of that one time he pulled her out of the way of that truck. He never forgot it. How could he ever?

He won’t meet her again. After all, the one that lived was him. Like Kido’s sister, like Seto’s dog, she was part of the loop that didn’t survive and would never come back again. Because Hibiya lived.

And although it left a gaping hole in his chest, he has no more tears left to mourn for her. There was no longer a point, after all.

A little black cat crosses his path. It turns, as if it was looking at him, bright red eyes boring acid holes into his heart.

He would never stop missing her.

(But this time, he has everyone else, and even if it isn’t, he has to be fine.)

(Because this was the greater good.)


	8. haruka.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haruka lives a peaceful life in the countryside, with his older brother that's more like a mom to him than anything else. Along with the rest of his brother's overprotective friends, he quite enjoys it here.

“Haruka, did you have another nightmare?”

The boy on the bed yawns. Rubbing his eyes, fingers brushing against the beauty mark under his right eye, he murmurs sleepily.

“Mh-mm,” it’s unclear what that means, but Koushi accepts it anyways.

Sugawara Koushi sets a hand under his younger brother’s bangs, but his forehead isn’t too warm. It is sweaty, though. He wraps his arms around his lithe figure, and in one tight, warm hug, Haruka mutters a sleepy good morning.

“You fine to go to school today?” Koushi asks, picking up Haruka’s clothes from the ground and opening up the closet to take out a set of their school uniform.

“Hmm,” Haruka chews, then in his daze he manages a croaky, “okay.”

-

“Suga, you’re heading home early today too?”

“Yeah, apparently my brother passed out during lunch again, so he’s in the infirmary right now.”

Daichi laughed at that. 

“I don’t think you’re supposed to laugh at that, Daichi,” Asahi says, completely concerned, “is Haruka-kun alright? Really?”

“It’s fine, it’s fine, probably,” Sugawara assured him, hiking his bag up to his shoulder, “they told me he just got a heat stroke.”

“That’s not a small matter!”

“We’re talking about a kid that breathes heavily after one flight of stairs, Asahi, it’s okay.” 

“That does not assure me at all!”

Another round of laughter begins, this time with a few other second years that knew the situation well. Asahi flustered over it, still not sure why a child that can literally spontaneously combust any day was ‘no big issue’.

“Anyways, I already told coach about it, so good luck with practice, okay?”

Sugawara up and leaves, without wasting another minute. After all, despite all he says, he does worry about Haruka.

Daichi closes his locker door.

“Is Sugawara-san’s younger brother sickly?” a first-year pipes up curiously.

“I know him! He’s Haruka-kun from Class Three, right?” another interrupts.

They gossiped about the mysterious, quiet boy at the back of the classroom that, although doesn’t have many friends, is a total gentleman and hottie that would make anyone swoon.

Daichi and Asahi share a glance, then promptly burst into laughter.

-

“I’ve never had a big brother before. I’ve always been the oldest of the group.”

Walking home with Haruka on his back, Koushi listens.

Koushi has always thought that his brother was strange. He would mutter the strangest things, and dream about even deeper mysteries.

He would act so mature, but maybe that was a trait of Sugawaras. 

Haruka has always had a faulty heart, but it was nothing fatal. Yet he lived each day as if it may be his last-- deeply melancholically, and pondering upon every minute as if he could never bear to let it go.

Eventually, Koushi learns to ignore those as childish sayings-- it isn’t uncommon, after all. But the longer he watches over his brother, the older he seems, the more fragile, the more fleeting he seems.

So every time, every morning and night before they sleep, Koushi will give Harukaone tight hug, as if it were their last.

He wouldn’t let the grim reapers take his brother. They can all scram!

“Nii-san, you’re nice. Kind of like Shintaro-kun was to Momo-chan, but… you’re very different from him, even though you’re both big brothers. It’s so strange!”

Haruka never has friends. After all, he’s sickly, has to sit out of school a lot, and isn’t all that great in communication. People don’t like being friends with someone just to become their essential mother… or at least, anyone other than Koushi…

“I wonder if Ayano-chan was a good sister like you too.”

Koushi always notes down those names. It may not mean a thing-- but somehow, Koushi felt that they meant a whole lot to Haruka. Much more than anyone could ever imagine.

Did they have something to do with all those nightmares Haruka wouldn’t tell him about? Koushi would have to solve the mystery on his own.

“You sure worry about strange things sometimes,” Koushi speaks up, “I’m your big brother, Haruka, so don’t you go acting older than me, alright?”

Haruka chuckles at that.

“Okay then.”

-

For Haruka, things were really very different, and he spends every moment of the day finding new things to marvel about.

Even if he now lived in the countryside, he loved it.

Because it was new, fresh, and beautiful.

His heart disease was a little different from before. Attacks would still leave him bedridden with risks, but there was much less of a danger of sudden cardiac arrest like last time.

He didn’t need to attend a special needs class or school, but his grades inevitably fell behind anyways.

(But it was fine.)

After all, this was the normalcy he never got in his past life. To study with a number of teachers, to faint from heat stroke, to struggle with tests and to whine about stairs.

He was no longer Kokonose Haruka, who wished beyond everything to have a healthy body.

Now he was Sugawara Haruka, a normal boy in a normal school.

(And he wouldn’t trade it for the world.)

-

“Haruka’s really good at drawing, isn’t he?” 

Asahi watches in awe as stroke after stroke traced out a perfect image of Asahi’s spiking form. Even Daichi couldn’t help but be amazed.

Haruka simply smiled on happily, while Koushi stood by proudly.

“Huh? Who’s this?”

They flip to a new page, to an old sketch of a blue, twin-tailed girl wearing a bomber jacket and a gas mask.

“A game character?” Daichi asks.

Haruka pauses, hesitating at the drawing, then his face brims into a smile. He shakes his head, turning the book so he could raise it and get a closer look.

He had drawn this a few years back, when he first remembered everything. Out of nostalgia, he prayed for the first person he wanted to see again-- 

“She’s Takane,” he says, and after a moment he tells them, “she’s my dearest friend.”

Asahi and Daichi look at him, utterly confused, but Haruka only smiles back. When they look at Koushi, he only shrugs helplessly.

“Want to see the rest?” Haruka changes the subject, “Shimizu-san is really pretty, so here, I drew a portrait of her…”

“Holy crap.”

Haruka waits, because he’s good at that. He’s good at sitting still until Takane overturns the world to find him, and he’s shamelessly proud of that.

This time, he’ll definitely make it till she finds him.


	9. shuuya.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kano has never changed. 
> 
> He doesn't want to and never will.

“Shuuya, are you sure you don’t want to become a model too?”

“Don’t even joke about that, Ryouta.”

The sun is just right today. On a field of lush greenery, a camera crew is set up, creating a stage for the one and only Kise Ryouta’s photoshoot.

The blond male, his smile the most picturesque existence on earth, strikes a classic pose. His clothing is designer, casual, yet looks amazing simply because it’s on him.

Kano’s never been fully interested in fashion or beauty, but he can’t help but feel envious. After all, this was a man that made men swoon.

(Kano knew better.)

The gentle face. The dominant, alpha expression on his face as he poses with his female coworker. The depth in his tone, the curt smiles, so mature.

It’s all a lie. 

The childish farce. The slightly ditzy way he acts with his friends, with a high, whiny tone as he lets them push him around just so he’d get some attention.

That’s a lie, too.

“Naomi-nee and Sayuri-nee’s been trying to get you some jobs too, why are you rejecting them all?” Ryouta says to him, pouting slightly, “it’d be so cool to get some work with you, y’know.”

Kano almost laughs.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Ryouta,” he feigns, “unlike you three, I’m not good-looking at all. Of course I wouldn’t want to be a model.”

“You liar,” Ryouta teases, “you have Kise blood in you. It’s the pretty people genes!”

“Is that something you’re supposed to say about yourself?” Kano chides.

-

Kano is the youngest, but he doesn’t call any of them by those titles. 

He’s called a rude child-- because Ryouta really wants to be called _ Onii-chan _ , Naomi really wants to spoil a baby brother, and Sayuri is called _ Onee-sama _ by everyone except Shuuya.

(I guess, he’d be called the black sheep, right?)

Kano’s never acted like a younger brother. It’s not unusual in this family of craftiness and mind games, so he gets off easy. He doesn’t want to act like a younger brother.

He’s not anyone’s younger brother except Ayano’s.

He doesn’t see this new family as his. But he’s stuck with them, so he bears with it.

He smiles, laghs, and pretends he’s having fun every day with this fake of a family he’s forced to be with.

(They’re not too bad, though.)

(They’re a nice family.)

(They’re just not _ his _ family and he hates it.)

He hates being alone.

-

Kano has an older brother and two older sisters.

(Oh my _ god _ , deja vu anyone? Just _ look _ at this, it’s like, _ such a crazy coincidence! _ OMG this is a riot, everything’s so different but he still has the same number of siblings in the right number of genders? Awesome!)

He breathes out, and sighs in a long-suffering way.

“Shuuya, what’s wrong?”

Kano flinches. He sleeps on the top bunk, with Ryouta on the bottom bunk. He had only let his guard down for a second.

He lifts his head and leans over the edge, a smile on his face. 

“Hm?”

Ryouta’s eyes are narrowed. His posture is stiff and his gaze is stern, as if he’s warning him-- _ no joking around _, the message is clear.

Kano pulls himself up, and bites his lip.

(Why was Ryouta only like Seto in the most unexpected ways?)

“Shuuya,” and Ryouta’s head peeks over the top bunk now, “what’s wrong?”

Kano tilts his head, confused. “Even if you ask me what’s wrong… there isn’t really anything…”

“Shuuya!”

Kano doesn’t flinch, but he’s surprised. 

Ryouta’s fists are tightened, his lips pursed and he’s actually _ angry _, “Shuuya, we talked about this! You’re not supposed to lie to me!”

Ryouta’s voice is rarely raised. As the most pacifist of the family, he is rarely angry. After all-- he was the childish, happy-go-lucky sort. He’s not the serious type.

Kano’s face is blank.

(When Ryouta blinks, he almost thinks Kano’s eyes are red. But that couldn’t be, right? They turned back to hazel in the next moment. Must have been a trick of the light.)

-

“I’m sick of soccer. Maybe I’ll try tennis next.”

“You’re such an athlete, Ryouta,” Kano says, sarcastically.

Ryouta dismisses his snarky remark. “I have to keep fit if I want to stay a model, after all,” he says, “and it’s not like I have anything better to do.”

Kano trails after his brother toward the entrance ceremony. His brother had been club jumping since last year. Kano wonders if there was any club he hadn’t managed to join yet. He might make it through all the clubs before his third year!

“But Shuuya, you might suit the drama club!” Ryouta tells him cheerfully. “I joined that one last year and the upperclassmen were really nice.”

“Drama is too emotional for me, so I’ll pass,” Kano responds immediately.

“You didn’t even think about it, did you?” Ryouta glares. “You’re really good at acting, though. You’re like, always in one mode or another. I think I’ve only managed to see your real self for about seven percent of the time.”

Kano’s smile stiffens.

(Hold on a minute, he’s right?)

Ryouta walks ahead of him, but Kano stops in his tracks and spends a moment trying to understand what he just experienced. 

_ Is Ryouta actually… frighteningly perceptive?_

Kano prides himself in his ability to hide. To deceive-- he doesn’t think he’s ever stopped using his eyes. After all, with his eyes, he could hide the red. No one can ever tell if he was using it in the first place.

Kano hides behind a mask, wearing mask after mask after mask, until it all blurs out and even he doesn’t know which is the real one beneath it all.

(Is there even a real face under it all? It’s a question no one’s been able to answer.)

And yet-- Ryouta could tell. Ryouta could see the few times Kano lets his guard down a little, and he cold even conjure a numerical value of it.

Why?

“He’s really like Seto in the most unconventional ways, huh…”

Kano doesn’t want to grow attached. Doesn’t want to grow to have emotional connections to this family of fakes that were trying to replace his precious people.

He really, really doesn’t.

(But he does, anyway.)


	10. jin.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ERROR 404 ERROR 404 ERROR 404 ERROR 404 ERROR 404 ERROR 404

“C’mon, Master, show some balls!”

“I told you to stop calling me that, think of what your brother would do to me if he misunderstands our relationship.”

Shintaro groans, his finger a pace away from the enter button. The room is dimly lit, as it had been for the last three nights of school-skipping and all-nighters.

“Who’s the one that was so enthusiastic about their song being a hit?” 

“That was last time around!” Shintaro whines, “and that was a totally different song. It was more like a ballad… this one’s a full on rock song and I honestly don’t think it’ll be much of a hit.”

“Oh c’mon, IA-chan’s gonna be sad! You spent three days on this!”

“She’s a vocaloid, she has no feelings,” the boy rests his hand on the desk, beside a crinkle of tissues and crushed cola cans, “and I only worked on this restlessly because of you! You’re the one that threatened to play victim around your brother if I didn’t agree! Do you even know how scary he is??”

“You’re just a wimp.”

“That’s fine with me.”

There’s silence as they face off, black eyes meeting black and flashing momentarily red in a sort of intense flash of hate between them. Then, the girl reaches for the room door and crunches it open.

“Seijuurou-san, your brother is trying to ra–”

“No! NO! I’m sorry, I’ll publish it right now, PLEASE don’t call him!”

The door is slammed shut. 

Downstairs, nursing a cup of coffee, Akashi Seijuurou glances toward the stairs for a brief moment before dismissing it as a passing wind.

“Now was that so hard?” she has the gall to sound snarky.

Shintaro feels like he’s had years shaved off his life over a burning flame. “I swear, I”ll never be free from your torments.”

“It’s fate, bro,” the girl laughs heartily, “so, have you decided on a name?”

“I’m not calling myself Kishin,” Shintaro responds automatically, and the girl whines like she’s been stabbed in the gut. “I’ll probably go with… Mekakushi Dan… or something.”

“You’re so uncreative!” 

“Better than _Lightning Dancer_,” Shintaro retorts sarcastically, “look, something that doesn’t sound like an edgy teen’s username. I would like to be normal, please.”

The girl folds her arms ruffly, grumbling under her breath. “What’s so great about being a normal person, anyway?”

Shintaro sighs longsufferingly.

Her wish was to have a body that required no sleep and no food. Being stuck as an astral projection, perhaps, had redacted her love for that idea, but it didn’t erase her secret want for being superhuman.

“Being _human_ is fine, isn’t it?” Shintaro says, mostly to himself. 

He brushes a finger against the sleeve of his bright red sweater, and smiles. He turned back to his PC, and where his name was meant to be filled, he reaches over to the keyboard.

“Jin?” the girl reads it curiously. 

“This is fine.” Shintaro says, and the girl doesn’t deny it.

They still have the powers of the snake, but they will never be consumed again. They will never be trapped in the infinite loop ever again… this time around, they’re human. They will be.

And that’s fine.

“This song doesn’t need to be a hit, or get overwhelmingly popular. We just need them to hear it– so they know we’re here,” Shintaro says. The hints were in the lyrics, and although there isn’t a PV to make things too obvious, surely, they’ll realize it.

Anyone who didn’t understand could assume this was a story written in songs (and it was, but they would never guess it was nonfiction) and that really wasn’t too uncommon amongst the vocaloid community. This was a foolproof plan.

When the girl smiles at him, the snarky smirk she always wore replaced by a gentle, agreeable grin– Shintaro presses on Enter a little easier than before. 

...

**CHILDREN RECORD  
** _Uploading…_

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